A Heart Full of Hope

From Mental Health Struggles to Joyful Recovery

A couple of Sundays ago, I sat at church with a lump in my throat and my heart doing something between a tap dance and a full-blown Riverdance. My son, Isaac, stood up in front of around 80 people—friends, strangers, and everyone in between—and preached. Like, really preached. Passionate, clear, and full of heart, he shared the story of Easter, the story of hope and redemption.

And all I could think was: Look at him. Look at him.

Because Isaac and I don’t just share a surname. We share a history—a layered, messy, hard-earned story of mental health struggles and recovery.

When Isaac was seven, our precious friend Chris took his own life. It was a loss that cracked the ground beneath our feet. At first, it was mostly my mental health that wobbled (understatement of the year), but by the time Isaac turned ten, the cracks had found him, too.

Separation anxiety, overwhelming fear of illness and loss, even thoughts of suicide—things no child should have to carry, but somehow he was holding them. And I, armed with nothing but love and a tiny seed of hope, did my best.

"Armed with nothing but love and a tiny seed of hope, I did my best."

We’ve shared parts of our journey through my short digital story How Does a Mum. It captures just a glimpse of what it was like. But honestly, living through it felt like surviving underwater—scary, ongoing, almost drowning—hoping for just the occasional gasp of air.

And so this Easter Sunday, seeing Isaac happy, confident, and alive, cracked my heart wide open. Relief, joy, and gratitude piled into my chest at once, like a bunch of celebrating party guests who refused to be quiet.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll know my own journey with mental health has been... well, more like an extended trail through potholes, overgrown fields, and bogs rather than a scenic tour on a smooth pathway. But still: we're here. We're standing.

"You can keep standing”

And if there’s one thing I am utterly convinced of, it’s this: there is hope.

Reflecting on Isaac’s talk, it struck me again how much we humans are wired for stories of recovery. We crave them. We see them everywhere—woven into the movies we watch, the books we love, the songs we hum when nobody’s listening.

Disney and Pixar, for starters: Finding Nemo, Up, The Lion King—each a story where hope battles against impossible odds. And for the slightly more grown-up among us: Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Braveheart (and yes, I still ugly cry at them all).

We love these stories because we need them. As Glenn Scrivener puts it so well, deep down, we already believe in the hero’s journey—a story where sacrifice, purpose, and redemption are not just fairy tales, but the very things that make life meaningful.

"Deep down, we already believe in the hero’s journey."

Christian faith, for me and for Isaac, hasn’t been about ticking the right boxes or having all the answers. It’s been about finding that the story we were already aching for—the one where hope and healing win—turns out to be true.

Of course, I’m not naive. (Well, maybe a little. I still believe a "quick tidy-up" is a thing.) Life still has its curveballs. Anxiety can still sneak up uninvited and pitch a tent. We are ensuring we move it on before it digs a foundation.

We are living in hope. We are doing well. And for that, my heart could burst.

"Life can be messy and beautiful all at once."

Wherever you are on your journey—whether you share my faith or are still searching—I want you to know that there is hope. You are not alone. There are people out there (even awkward, sometimes bumbling people like me) cheering you on and willing you forward.

That’s what my blog posts are all about. And that’s why I paint.
I create to remind everyone, including myself, that life can be messy and beautiful at the same time, and that new life is possible even after the deepest struggles.

So if you need a reminder today, here it is:

"Hope is real.
You are not alone.
And your story isn’t finished yet."

Love,
Andrea

---

P.S. If you’d like to see and hear more:
🎥 How Does a Mum (Patient Voices Project)
🎥 Isaac's Easter Preach